1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for integrated control of a plurality of server computer consoles on one, two or more client computers, and, more particularly, to an improved graphical user interface (“GUI”) for controlling a plurality of server computer consoles as a group.
2. Description of the Related Art
Server computers require consoles, which are used for the server computer operating system (OS) installation, system maintenance, and system control. For example, UNIX hosts require consoles (“UNIX” is a registered trademark of Open, Ltd.). A user is able to operate the server computer by inputting commands using the console, and the console displays messages from the server.
Conventionally, a single console display device or personal computer that displays the console is required for a single server computer. The server computer console is displayed on the console display device or the personal computer display connected to the server computer with a one-to-one cable connection, such as a direct connection using a serial RS-232C cable. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a conventional system of server computers 101A, 101B (UNIX hosts), which are respectively connected via connection cables 102 to consoles 103a, 103b (personal computers). As shown in FIG. 1, the respective UNIX hosts J 101A, 101B (where J=A, B, C, etc., and where capital letters are used to indicate server computers) are connected to personal computers PCk 103a, 103b (where k=a, b, c, etc., and where lower case letters are used to indicate client computers) using an RS-232C serial cable 102. The consoles for UNIX host A 101A and UNIX host B 101B are displayed on the displays of personal computers PCa 103a and PCb 103b, respectively.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional console 200 for UNIX host A 101A displayed on the display of personal computer PCa 103a. As shown in FIG. 2, “% %” is a command prompt, and following the command prompt “% %” are messages from UNIX host A or commands input into the UNIX host.
Conventionally, it has not been possible to control a plurality of UNIX host consoles as a group on two or more client computers. More specifically, it has not been possible to control UNIX host consoles as a group on more than one client computer because commands input simultaneously to the same server computer from a plurality of client computers cause command collisions to occur because the console performs the input/output (I/O) for the server computer.